Organ snaps back into reality

organ

For the past 4 years or so, I've been on and off the forum a lot (off mostly). I haven't been posting regularly like the first few years after joining.

Those who remember me from the old days know the constant gear change and insane tube purchases I did. For quite a few years, I was ordering tubes about once a week, I'd get at least 4 new equipments a year. I couldn't stop myself from constant audio purchase. I just wanted to try them all.

I had both good and bad times with different set ups, but I never lost the passion for music and good audio reproduction.

In this hobby, some of us forget to stop and think about the amount of money we spend.

Well, last month I got laid off of work. The company I'm working for is changing owner. I will be working there again after the renovations. So far, I've had almost 1 month off with a budget much smaller than I'm used to. I'm still waiting for my unemployment pay to come in.

So for almost a month I'm just chillaxing and listening to my system, and you know what? I'm more than satisfied. My system kicks serious musical ****! I've been using the same tubes in my tube gear for months and don't really feel the need to roll. All are cheaper current production Russians. The 300B's are my most expensive tubes but I got them last year before the equipment they were going to be used in was even made.

Tube rolling is fun and I sure miss it, but, I was spending crazy money just to hear a tonal change which didn't effect my enjoyment of music. I enjoy cheap russian tubes as much as NOS.

So that's it. No more major changes. I just want to listen to music now.

I can't say I'm proud of my past audio perversions, but I don't regret it. I got to try all sorts of gear, SS, tubes, planar, horns, bi-poles, etc. This allowed me to find my "color and preference", and that is what I'm running now.

I'm very happy that I can control myself now. I did start another hobby, but it doesn't cost much.

I'm sure a lot of you have finally slowed down, care to share your experience?

Thanks for reading

steveinaz

There you go brother. Sometimes we lose focus on what it's suppose to be about.

organ

Exactly. This hobby can be so addictive, I don't know if I should laugh about it or what.

steveinaz

I've been chasing my damn tail for about 9 years, until the right purchase snapped everything where it should have been---and Sean knows what I'm talking about.

I've said it before, and my latest epiphany just cements what I thought...nothing is as important as speakers, period.

organ

Sean,
Thanks, the guy who builds my equipments is also the same. He built my cdp which imo, is the stand out piece in my system. There's nothing else like it out there lol.
Four pcs. of gear average a month? OMG, and I thought you were going through A LOT back in the day lol.

Steve,
Oh man, same thing happened to me too lol. I'm going to check out Sean's review of the Carbon 7's.

halo71

Welcome back! Admitting to your addiction is key to your rehab! Well thats what the wife told me this time last year when I had 23 electric guitars

Edgarhorns?? Like these? Got pics? Would love to see your setup.

Ern Dog

**** Gary, that looks sweeeeeet. Not sure what it is though. Post your gear.

Organ- I envy you man. I'm still on the upgrade train. I want to be satisfied and done, but not there yet. I do feel like I'm closing in on it though. I've been saying that for the last year though. Sounds like a lack of funds has helped you kick the addiction. Good for you. You must have a lot of tubes..... got any 6SN7's? Ha ha

halo71

Ern Dog wrote: »

**** Gary, that looks sweeeeeet. Not sure what it is though. Post your gear.

Sorry for the confusion, I WISH the rig in that pic was mine. Organ's list of gear shows him having Edgarhorns. I just wanted to see his set up.

organ

Halo,
The first step is admitting that you have a problem:D.

My Edgars don't look anywhere as nice. Mine has 0 wife acceptance factor. I have the earlier design. The Titan (in your pic) is what it finaly evolved into. Same basic design for both.

Ernie,
Yeah, first the speakers (finally satisfied for speaks), then the lack of funds got me bad. Or maybe it's just time for me to stop:). Good to hear you're almost there.

Believe it or not, when I temporarily got back into SS with my Maggies and Mirage, I sold off my tubes:(. Only using EH and Sovtek 6SN7 now. I did hold on to my favs that I was stocking up on. A lot of Amperex 6DJ8, 7199's for my Dynaco and some 12AU7 and 12AX7.

Have you looked into the Shuguang Treasure series 6SN7? Seems to be getting the same rep as NOS. Might be a good one for your new CDP.


Here are some pics of my rig...

halo71

WOW! That is a sweet looking set up dude! Yeah, I can see that having no WAF at all.

organ

Thanks Halo. I'm not married, but if I ever do, the speakers will come with me as a package:).


Forgot to add. Sometimes it's better to fight audio addiction with another much less expensive one. I'm really enjoying this new one:cool:.

organ

Just a few more:)

megasat16

Hey, I still think these horn looks great and I am not a Horn guy either.

Audio is a long journey and don't forget, your taste changes from time to time.

tonyb

steveinaz wrote: »

I've said it before, and my latest epiphany just cements what I thought...nothing is as important as speakers, period.

Agreed Steve.....mine still bring a smile to my face. Obviously so do yours.

organ

Megasat,
Thanks. I think the sexiest speakers I had was a pair of Klipsch La Scala.
I hope my taste doesn't change again. Did a full 360 and still happy after 3 months. I know it's not too long but that's rare for me. For the past few years, I'd rotate speakers every few weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed.

headrott

organ wrote: »

Thanks Halo. I'm not married, but if I ever do, the speakers will come with me as a package:).


Forgot to add. Sometimes it's better to fight audio addiction with another much less expensive one. I'm really enjoying this new one:cool:.

That's a good hobby. Very nice looking model there. I really enjoy making model airplanes too. I do a lot of air force, navy, marines and international jets. F-15's, F-16's, F-14's, etc.

As for audio, sometimes it's good to be satisfied with what you have. I am still learning this myself, but always looking for the next best thing makes you miss out on the good thing you have right now. Or, "stop and smell the speakers".;):)



Greg

madmax

I give him another month and a new job before he goes nuts again.
madmax

heiney9

I'm trying very hard to lay off buying tubes for my 4 pieces of tube gear. It's very difficult because I love the hunt and getting a few packages a week as much as rolling and listening to the music and gear. I have resisted with the urge to check Audiogon and Ebay and so far it's working. But I've been partially distracted by the enormous work load here at work which has given me less time with my rigs.

Unlike Organ, I really don;t care for any of the new production tube offerings so I'm always on the hunt for old tubes. The SED EL34's aren't too bad considering what a pair of Mullard made EL34's cost. But beyond that no new production tube really floats my boat. I admit I haven't tried them all in all the different designations.

Right now I am content with the tubes I have but the urge is still there to hunt and collect and complete my own personal tube mission! The hunt is as fun as the music.

H9

reeltrouble1

yea, its certainly an addiction, I used to just think it was a passion, but hey, there are a lot worse things to spend coin on, music is beautiful.

I have thought about if you had to choose between being blind or deaf what would I take, obviously both are serious disabilities so please no offense meant, the thought of never hearing music again is something I just cannot imagine.

Enjoy the tunes, the tubes and good luck with your next job/career.

RT1

heiney9

I will add, I am extremely happy with the main rig. At some point I'd like to move up the Pass Labs line and get an XA30.5 to rpelace the Aleph 30, but to be honest this is the sweetest most natural realistic amplifier I've ever heard. Not really a reason to replace it.

I love my SDA 1C's with Sonicaps and RD0's. I recently modded/updated the Adcom GDA600 dac, it sounds stellar. I have all my music stored as lossless FLAC files on a computer server running through the superb Squeezebox Touch with a Welborne Labs linear power supply (coax to the Adcom dac). Everything sounds just absolutely fantastic.

H9

rubin

I've persuaded myself to be satisfied with my stereo. Cash reserves have forced me to do so. I made my last new equipment purchase about 4 months ago. Its the first time I bought any new gear in 6 years! From now on I will only buy to replace something that can't be repaired.

It would be a different story if I had $$$$$$ (lottery).

madmax

I'm to the point now that to upgrade to the next level is financially impossible. At this point I'm only trying to settle on what is best at my level. I may still do a speaker upgrade and try a few more amps but beyond that I'm pretty happy. I keep looking at the Avantgarde Trio horns...

rubin

madmax wrote: »

I'm to the point now that to upgrade to the next level is financially impossible. At this point I'm only trying to settle on what is best at my level. I may still do a speaker upgrade and try a few more amps but beyond that I'm pretty happy. I keep looking at the Avantgarde Trio horns...

That's quite a radical looking system. What would they retail for. Laking a cabinet would help with the cost?

organ

Greg,
Thanks. I think I remember talking to you a bit about model planes in the club house before I started buying them. Sure is fun.

I couldn't help but LMAO. What you said about smelling speakers just reminded me of a post many years ago on this forum when someone asked if any of us smell our speakers lol:D.

Madmax,
I sure hope not! I'm going to force myself to keep this same set up (and my spare equipments) for as long as I can. I just don't have anymore room for more gear lol.

H9,
I think you're one of the bigger tube roller around here right now:cool: Sorry to hear you haven't found any current production outputs that you're satisfied with. Maybe Matsushita EL34 is a good choice. Made by Matsushita on Mullard equipments.

RT1,
Thanks. You brought up a good point. That's very hard decision.

Rubin,
Yeah, I want to do the same. Replace them only when they break. Keep listening and enjoy.

madmax

rubin wrote: »

That's quite a radical looking system. What would they retail for. Laking a cabinet would help with the cost?

I've seen them go used as low as $25k. I have the duos now which are half the cost and they are like no speaker I've ever heard.

madmax

organ wrote: »

Madmax,
I sure hope not! I'm going to force myself to keep this same set up (and my spare equipments) for as long as I can. I just don't have anymore room for more gear lol.

Ha ha, thats funny. My old house was so full of equipment I couldn't stand it so I bought a much bigger house when I moved to Colorado.

cstmar01

Still have your golden tube audio SEP-1?

how do you think that ranks up against the gear you have now that you are enjoying?

organ

Madmax,
I remember when you were having audio withdrawl when you just moved into the house and didn't have your gear set up. Can't believe you're looking to upgrade the AV's. Even at the moment, your system must sound incredible!

I did some major cleaning. My buddy and I made two trips to the dealer in a delivery van to unload my gear lol.

Here's what I'll do. If I get any new gear, I'll post it. Once in a while I will tube roll (will stick to current production). I bet I can stay clean for 1 year:). I will only rotate the tube ints that I have.

Cstmar,
Yeah, I still have the SEP-1. I haven't been able to use it in this system because I sold all my amps and only keeping 3 of my favorite tube integrateds. I have a Dynaco ST-70 amp but no tubes for it at the moment. I'm going to have it completely restored.
When I had the SEP-1 connected to the ST-70, it was a match made in heaven. I haven't had the chance to try this after the SEP mod.

The only position for a pre in my system right now is for the subwoofer volume.

I will definitely let you know how it goes when I run the ST-70/SEP-1 combo. I just have to get the Dynaco restored first.

How's the SEP-1 doing in your system? Did you get a chance to tube roll? Tube rolling on it is fun because you only need one tube lol. I have a pretty nice stash of Amperex (different kinds). Pulled from old scope equipments, still test strong to new. If you want to try some Amperex, let me know, I send you one of each type.

cstmar01

organ wrote: »

Madmax,
I remember when you were having audio withdrawl when you just moved into the house and didn't have your gear set up. Can't believe you're looking to upgrade the AV's. Even at the moment, your system must sound incredible!

I did some major cleaning. My buddy and I made two trips to the dealer in a delivery van to unload my gear lol.

Here's what I'll do. If I get any new gear, I'll post it. Once in a while I will tube roll (will stick to current production). I bet I can stay clean for 1 year:). I will only rotate the tube ints that I have.

Cstmar,
Yeah, I still have the SEP-1. I haven't been able to use it in this system because I sold all my amps and only keeping 3 of my favorite tube integrateds. I have a Dynaco ST-70 amp but no tubes for it at the moment. I'm going to have it completely restored.
When I had the SEP-1 connected to the ST-70, it was a match made in heaven. I haven't had the chance to try this after the SEP mod.

The only position for a pre in my system right now is for the subwoofer volume.

I will definitely let you know how it goes when I run the ST-70/SEP-1 combo. I just have to get the Dynaco restored first.

How's the SEP-1 doing in your system? Did you get a chance to tube roll? Tube rolling on it is fun because you only need one tube lol. I have a pretty nice stash of Amperex (different kinds). Pulled from old scope equipments, still test strong to new. If you want to try some Amperex, let me know, I send you one of each type.

Organ, thanks for the offer and I'll PM you to talk about it some more.

The SEP is working great still in my system. I did look into getting those mods done and talked to them about it. I didn't get a chance to finalize anything and get anything set for a price.

I did some tube rolling in the unit and found one I really like. I'll for sure take you up on that offer though!

organ

PM sent

LuSh

About 5 years ago I switched out a pair of speakers and realized it was not an upgrade. I made several other changes to compensate and things got worse. It was right about this time that I shifted focus from upgrading systems to finding cool music. I now spend close to or equal time visiting 'music' websites as opposed to 'gear' websites.

The new music is much more satisfying as expectations are much lower, about 5 years ago I was at a level where things started to actually get stressful as 'upgrades' required huge capitol investment and I didn't have the cash to blow on mistakes. The great thing about new music is I can 'hunt' for the good stuff and listen to it on a number of streaming websites allowing me to purchase upon release.